In Arizona, a unique arrangement between the Town of Paradise Valley and the City of Phoenix brought state-of-the-art emergency response services to residents of Paradise Valley. The centerpiece of the agreement was the construction of two new emergency service buildings, Paradise Valley Fire Station No. 1 and Fire Station No. 2, which were constructed simultaneously. Per the agreement, Paradise Valley owns and maintains both buildings while the Phoenix Fire Department provides the necessary personnel and equipment.

Both firehouses were designed by Larry and Lance Enyart, the father-and-son partners and principals of LEA Architects, Phoenix. Among the firm’s core values is designing for sustainability, having designed more than 100 fire stations with numerous LEED®-certified projects in their portfolio, including the first LEED Platinum Level Certified Fire Station in the United States.

Prior to striking the new arrangement with the city, Paradise Valley had a longstanding contract with Rural Metro Fire in Phoenix. The private, subscription-based fire protection service operated locally from within two converted single-family homes that no longer met current mission requirements for a modern fire station.

“The town’s goal was to build a 50 year-plus sustainable facility that would integrate with the surrounding natural environment as well as the residential and civic context specific to each of the two unique sites,” said Lance Enyart, AIA, LEED AP, who has extensive experience in designing civic and public safety projects. “Both projects also were designed to meet the unique mission requirements of the Phoenix Fire Department.”

To keep time and budget in check when building two specialty structures in two very different neighborhoods, designers chose to utilize a trusted provider and product with Echelon Masonry’s Trenwyth Trendstone® ground face CMU. Echelon is the masonry brand of Oldcastle APG, a CRH company.

The design strategy for both emergency response buildings employed the use of Trendstone’s Berkeley, which features rich earth tones and terra-cotta exposed aggregates, as well as smooth face integral color concrete masonry, hollow clay tile units, and weathering structural steel and standing seam metal roof and wall panels.

Paradise Valley Fire Station No. 1 is on a natural desert hillside where the architects had to take grade issues into consideration. It is also located in a high-end, single-family residential neighborhood, so the aesthetics were very important to residents. “The use of natural materials such as the ground face masonry and weathering steel combined with architectural strategies such as earth berming, taking advantage of a sloped site to allow for a split-level plan, and strategic orientation of shed roof forms were implemented to minimize the scale of the building and be sympathetic of the surrounding neighbors,” noted Enyart.

Paradise Valley Station No. 2, on the other hand, was in a municipal complex adjacent to the existing town hall and new court facility. While this building sought to complement the neighboring complex, it also was designed to integrate with the natural environment. “In this case, the colors and textures of the Trendstone helped visually connect Paradise Valley Station No. 2 to the natural backdrop of Camelback Mountain,” Enyart said.

Echelon’s Trendstone units also were chosen as the best material for the interior of the buildings. “It is an interior material that is highly durable and will not scratch or snag the clothing of the emergency response personnel,” explained Larry Enyart, president of LEA Architects. “It also works in harmony with the ground concrete floors to provide considerable thermal mass for temperature stability and energy conservation.”

In addition to its contributions to energy conservation, Trendstone CMUs will help keep the interiors of the buildings clean, as masonry doesn’t show dirt easily and cleans up well with little effort. It also won’t show signs of wear and tear. The fire resistance of the material was also an important consideration as the buildings serve both as residences and storage for large, diesel-filled vehicles. The use of concrete masonry units to separate living spaces from the equipment bay helps protect first responders while also limiting the transmission of noise from one space to the other.

Enyart noted the Trendstone conveys an image of timelessness and solidity in these buildings. “The mason skillfully worked with the block in achieving the quality results we desired,” he said. “The architectural design, quality of the product, and construction execution represents a culmination of effective teamwork. From the outset of the project, we and the Town of Paradise Valley viewed this project as an opportunity to enhance and support the neighboring community and provide an emergency response facility that would instill a sense of permanence and pride in the public and users.”

In addition, partnering with a single masonry manufacturer proved invaluable from a costeffectiveness standpoint. “The construction costs realized for both projects were on budget and very competitive when compared to construction costs of other fire stations of similar scope and complexity built around the same time, but not designed by LEA Architects,” said Lance Enyart. “Using similar materials for both projects undoubtedly offered value and economy of scale and contributed to the competitive construction costs achieved.”

LEA Architects were recognized for their design work on these buildings. Both Paradise Valley Fire Stations received top design awards from Fire Industry Education Research Organization and Design Excellence Awards from the Arizona Masonry Guild. Paradise Valley Fire Station No. 1 also received an environmental excellence award from Arizona Forward.

“We continue to be huge fans of masonry for its sustainability, sound dampening qualities, and ability to blend in with the natural landscape,” said Enyart. “We will specify these materials going forward to create modern, unique public buildings.”

Learn more at: www.EchelonMasonry.com © 2007 Dancoogan.com 602.220.9192

LEA Architects is proud to be a sponsor of the newly published book by Dawn Bolstad-Johnson called “EXPOSED Carcinogenic Exposures on the Fireground and 11 work practices to minimize the risk”.

LEA Architects has pioneered many safe building practices in over 4 decades of designing Fire Stations and are strong advocates for healthy safe buildings for Fire fighters.  LEA has featured several Fire Stations in urban, rural and aviation environments in the new book sponsor ad.

Purchase your copy here!

Phoenix (AZ) Station 59 Design by LEA Architects Gets LEED Platinum Award

Sedona Fire Station Combines Innovation and Functionality

San Luis Obispo (CA) County Regional Airport Fire Station Houses Municipal, ARFF Firefighting Functions

LEA Architect’s Wolff Residence has been featured on the front cover of Atomic Ranch Summer 2017 magazine edition! Find Wolff Residence on pages 66-67.

LEA Architects wins Design Excellence Award, El Mirage Fire Station + Administration, National Competition US & Canada Fire Chief Magazine, Chicago, 2013

Several LEA Architects projects appear in the newly released book called “Images of America – Paradise Valley Architecture” by Doug Sydnor, FAIA. The Paradise Valley Icon LEA Buildings depicted in the new book include:

• Paradise Valley Fire Station No. 2 at Lincoln and Casa Blanca at the Paradise Valley Town Hall campus. LEA did town hall campus Master Plan development and renovation to the Town Hall.

• Paradise Valley Fire Station No. 1 at Tatum and Mockingbird

• Wollf Residence at Tatum near Indian Bend

• Paradise Valley Town Hall Renovations (LEA replaced all original mission tile with standing seam Corten naturally rusting metal roofing to match Fire Station No. 2)

LEA Architects LEED Platinum Scottsdale Fire Station No. 2 + Administration appeared in the “Images of America – Scottsdale Architecture” by Doug Sydnor, FAIA released a few years ago. Scottsdale Station 2 is the first LEED Platinum certified Fire Station in the United States. See USGBC AZ profiles of four recent LEA LEED Platinum and Gold certified buildings:
http://www.usgbcaz.org/arizona-leed-profiles

Larry Enyart, FAIA, LEED AP and Lance Enyart, AIA, LEED AP along with Chief Ken Leake, Phoenix Fire Department and Chief Kris Kazian, Sedona Fire District, presented a one hour course in facility delivery strategies for Fire Districts and Municipal Fire Departments touching on ADA, Sustainability, and functional design at the National Fire Chief Station Style Conference. LEED Platinum Phoenix FS 59 was a case study as well as Sedona FS 6. LEA Architects also provided a tour of Paradise Valley FS 1 to Senior leaders and Fire Service personnel from across the US and Canada. LEA was recognized for the Gold Design Excellence Award for the top training center in the US and Canada for Fire Training Facilities (CYRTA) and the Silver Design Excellence Award for the Grand Canyon National Park Airport Operations Building.

An Architectural Exhibit at the AIA Arizona Office/Gallery in downtown Phoenix is on display for the months of April and May 2013; the exhibit is called GENERATIONS and looks at the work of 5 legendary family architectural firms in Arizona. Among the 5 family firms is the design work and significant projects of Lawrence Enyart, FAIA, LEED AP and son, Lance Enyart, AIA, LEED AP who are architects in the Phoenix based firm LEA Architects in business from 1975 to the present. LEA Principal Architects Larry and Lance Enyart have created a timeline from 1966 through 2012 covering 3 generations and numerous award winning projects with a significant timeline of mile marker events in their professional work and in their lives. Viet Nam and Desert Storm Veteran Lawrence Enyart, FAIA is a retired Brigadier General USAF; among other military duties in his distinguished career, he worked with Senator Trent Lott during Hurricane Georges in the aftermath and recovery operations and has built large buildings in Japan in early days during the Viet Nam conflict. A time line is a part of the exhibit.

Lawrence Enyart Architects started in 1975 in Phoenix and continues on into the new century as LEA Architects, LLC operating in the present day as a very successful family professional firm with over 100 environmental and design awards. Larry and Lance Enyart’s sustainable architectural works features several building types: a library, work at the Phoenix Theatre and Phoenix Art Museum, a large 77 acre campus, two USGBC LEED Platinum and two USGBC LEED Gold projects and other interesting work from their large body of public and private architecture. The LEA Architects GENERATIONS exhibit features interesting airport and public safety / life safety projects, design processes examples of models and sketches, and other Enyart family member involvements over a 50 year period. The Enyart family is very active in the AIA today: Larry Enyart, FAIA, LEED AP, AIA WMR Silver Medal Winner, is the AIA WMR Regional Representative to The College of Fellows and Lance Enyart, AIA, LEED AP is the ENR Award Winner for the top 20 under 40, is a Director on the AIA Phoenix Metro Board. LEA Architects is the AIA AZ Sustainable Firm of the Year 2012.

Happy Holidays from LEA!

Phoenix Fire Station No. 59 receives LEED Platinum Certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Station No. 59 represents the first fire station to receive LEED Platinum certification for the Phoenix Fire Department. This news tails LEA receiving the 2012 Sustainable Firm of the Year from the AIA Arizona at the beginning of the month. LEA also has the distinction of obtaining the first LEED Platinum certified Fire Station in the US in 2009.